'Stoke climb again

OLD Albanians may have a superb set-up, but it was their London one visitors Basingstoke who turned on the style on Saturday.

A determined performance saw the FX-backed side record their third league win on the bounce and move two places up the table.

Unlike the earlier encounter between the two teams at Down Grange, when 'Stoke leaked early scores, the home effort was thwarted in the opening encounters by resolute defending from the visitors.

Albanians' efforts were not helped by the numerous turnovers they gave away, but much credit must go to 'Stoke for the hard work and solid tackling they put in.

Once the visitors settled into their stride, they gave as much as they got.

As a result, they took the lead on 20 minutes with a Seb Berti penalty and slowly started to get the upper hand.

Numerous visits into the Albanians half went unrewarded and the nearest to a score came when a 'Stoke pass went to ground on the home line.

This left the score at half-time 3-0 to 'Stoke, who were playing into the breeze.

A substitute in the front row at half-time brought a marked improvement in the scrum and gave a better platform to build from.

'Stoke were now the dominant team and much of the second half was spent in the home half.

As a result, pressure was rewarded with a penalty on 44 minutes for a 6-0 lead.

A minute later, Stoke suffered a blow when Berti was shown a yellow card for persistent foul play.

But, instead of suffering by being a player down, 'Stoke were inspired into action, especially with some driving mauls, one of which moved 30 metres.

A spell of pressure by 'Stoke followed a break by Simon Appleby. He was stopped close to the line from a lineout 10 metres out but the move ended with a score by Russell Northcote, who had a good game coming into the second row at short notice for Ross Stirling.

Now leading 11-0, 'Stoke extended their lead when man-of-the-match Simon Humberstone slotted a penalty on 53 minutes. 'Stoke continued to be the assertive team and were handed several penalties.

Berti converted one from three to extend the lead to 17-0 with 10 minutes to go.

'Stoke deserved to have a clean sheet but the home side started to play with more urgency and scored a try on 72 minutes from a maul over the line that was given as grounded.

On 78 minutes, Albanians scored another five points to leave a converted try needed to level matters.

Not wanting to let all the good work go to waste, 'Stoke put pressure back on the home team from the restart.

During the closing moments, they tackled anything that moved.

Their reward was a try from Vincent Feausi after a home player spilled the ball in a tackle on his 22 for a run-in at the posts.

The successful conversion proved the final kick of the match.

'Stoke had much to be proud of from their overall team performance.

Individually, Mark Rushworth added to the scrum strength and Northcote's efforts were magnificent.

The back row played with more freedom, particularly Appleby, while Humberstone settled in at full-back.

Delighted player-coach Jim Dixon said afterwards: "That was a massive game and an important win.

"The lads put their bodies on the line today and that was reflected by the fact that we competed to the final whistle and scored on full-time.

"With four wins in the last five games, confidence is higher and a winning habit always helps. Next week is a new challenge and we will work towards that in training this week."

Basingstoke: S Humberstone; S Buckland, V Feausi, E Chimbima, O Rogers; S Berti, D Lillywhite; P Perkins, P Maxwell, R Bassati (rep M Rushworth), A Wilson, R Northcote, S Appleby, D Rees, J Dixon. Reps (not used): I Calder, T Northcote.